Deck 7: Instrumental Conditioning: Motivational Mechanisms

Question 1

According to the modern two-process theory,classically conditioned emotional states are assumed to

A) elicit specific conditioned responses.
B) elicit specific instrumental responses.
C) motivate instrumental behavior.
D) arise from the rg-sg mechanism.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

An instrumental conditioning procedure provides the opportunity for a subject to learn many associations.Which of the following possible associations is thought to arise due to classical conditioning?

A) S-O
B) R-O
C) S-R
D) All of the above

Answer 2

A

Question 3

A rat is first trained to press a lever for food reinforcement.Then,a tone is sounded and a brief footshock is delivered.Lastly,the rat is again allowed to press the lever for food,and the experimenter records how the rat's lever pressing behavior changes when the tone is sounded.This researcher is employing

A) a transfer procedure.
B) an omission control procedure.
C) a blocking procedure.
D) negative reinforcement procedure.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What is likely to occur in the testing phase of a transfer experiment?

A) A conditional stimulus that had previously been trained in a compound is presented alone.
B) A conditional stimulus is presented while an organism is engaged in an instrumental behavior.
C) A conditional response is recorded as an organism makes an instrumental response.
D) An unconditional stimulus is presented while an organism is making a conditional response.

Question 5

Fearing failure,Keith was cramming for his upcoming exam under the watchful eye of mean old Professor Jones.According to modern two-process theory,when Keith notices the evil professor pull out his briefcase in order to leave,Keith will study

A) more intensely at first and the less intensely.
B) at the same rate.
C) less intensely.
D) more intensely.

Question 6

Modern two-process theory predicts that instrumental responding will decrease if

A) the central emotional state reflects a negative mood.
B) the central emotional state was conditioned with an aversive stimulus.
C) the central emotional state was conditioned with an appetitive stimulus.
D) the conditioned central emotional state is opposite to the emotions that motivate instrumental behavior.

Question 7

Which of the following is not true of the modern two-process theory?

A) It assumes that the rate of an instrumental response will be modified by the presentation of a classically conditioned stimulus.
B) It assumes that the primary outcome of the classical conditioning that occurs during instrumental conditioning trials involves the learning of a particular response.
C) It assumes that classically conditioned stimuli do not always suppress responding, as in the CER procedure.
D) It assumes that central emotional states become conditioned to either situational cues or to discriminative stimuli.

Question 8

According to the modern two-process theory,instrumental behavior reinforced by food or other appetitive reinforcers is motivated by

A) relief.
B) hope.
C) fear.
D) disappointment.

Question 9

A CS that had previously been paired with shock termination is presented to a rat pressing a lever for food reinforcement.According the modern two-process theory,the rate of lever presses is likely to

A) increase.
B) decrease.
C) remain the same.
D) increase briefly, then decrease.

Question 10

A male Japanese quail was pecking at a key light for access to a quail hen.During this time,the researcher presented the male with a tone CS that had previously signaled the end of a period of access to food.According to the modern two-process theory,in response to the CS,the keypeck rate will

A) remain the same.
B) decrease.
C) increase.
D) decrease, then increase.

Question 11

Sally was pushing the buttons of a video game to earn gold pieces when she heard the bicycle-bell belonging to her cruel older brother,signaling that he was home.According to the modern two-process theory,she will push the buttons

A) more rapidly.
B) less rapidly.
C) at the same rate.
D) more rapidly at first and then less rapidly.

Question 12

Hull and Spence added a classical conditioning component to Thorndike's Law of Effect by suggesting that the presence of stimuli S

A) elicits the response.
B) elicits an expectation of the response.
C) elicits the outcome.
D) elicits an expectation of the outcome.

Question 13

According to the modern two-process theory,the emotional state generated by an instrumental conditioning procedure is determined by

A) the CS modality.
B) the type of reinforcer presented.
C) the type of instrumental response.
D) the rg mechanism.

Question 14

Bob was washing dishes to avoid getting fired.Just then he heard the sound of his crazy boss arriving at the restaurant.According to the modern two-process theory,he will now wash the dishes

A) more rapidly.
B) less rapidly.
C) at the same rate.
D) more rapidly at first and then less rapidly.

Question 15

Kim was working diligently on her art project in order to earn a gold star.According to modern two-process theory,when she smelled the perfume of her favorite teacher,signaling the teacher's arrival,Kim's work rate

A) remained the same.
B) increased at first, then decreased.
C) increased.
D) decreased.

Question 16

According to Hull and Spence,what mediates expectancy of reward?

A) the R-O association
B) the S-O association
C) the O-R association
D) the S-R association

Question 17

According to the modern two-process theory,emotional states

A) develop from an association between the stimuli S and the instrumental response.
B) are characteristic of the peripheral nervous system.
C) only act to suppress behaviors, as in CER procedures.
D) do not invariably lead to particular responses.

Question 18

The findings from transfer-of-control experiments generally support

A) the Hull-Spence rg-sg mechanism.
B) reward-specific expectancy theory.
C) the modern two-process theory.
D) SOP and AESOP theories.

Question 19

Transfer experiments are designed to explore

A) the effects of omission control procedures.
B) the effect of rg on the instrumental response.
C) the development of the rg-sg expectancy.
D) the effects of a CS on instrumental behavior.

Question 20

The emotional state "hope" occurs when

A) a CS+ for an appetitive stimulus is presented.
B) a CS- for an appetitive stimulus is presented.
C) a CS+ for an aversive stimulus is presented.
D) a CS- for an aversive stimulus is presented.

Question 21

According to the reward-specific expectancy theory,lever press behavior resulting in access to food will increase if a CS is presented that had previously been paired with

A) water.
B) food.
C) sucrose.
D) All of the above

Question 22

According to Premack's theory,

A) reinforcement is dependent on species typical responses.
B) protecting physiological homeostasis motivates behavior.
C) high probability responses reinforce lower probability responses.
D) the likelihood of all instrumental responses is the same.

Question 23

Most intuitive explanations of instrumental behavior are based on _____ associations.

A) R-O
B) S-R
C) S-O
D) R-S

Question 24

According to behavioral regulation theories,when a rat is hungry,it pushes a lever to get food in order to

A) reduce a physiological drive state.
B) guard a behavioral bliss point.
C) receive the sensory stimulation of consuming the food.
D) make the species typical response of consuming food.

Question 25

Which of the following cannot be explained well without R-O mechanisms?

A) A rat decreases lever-pressing for food when presented with a CS for footshock, but increases pressing when a CS signaling access to food is presented.
B) A rat decreases rod-pushing for food when presented with a CS that signals the end of access to food, but increases pushing when a CS signaling access to sugar water is presented.
C) A rat decreases licking a grape-flavored solution after that solution was paired with illness, but continues to lick a strawberry-flavored solution.
D) A rat decreases pushing a bar to the right for food after that food was paired with illness, but continues to push the bar to the left for water.

Question 26

A child who chewed very little gum was fitted with braces and cannot chew gum at all.Now,the child's friends can reward mischievous behavior in the child by sneaking the child pieces of gum.Which of the following theories best accounts for the ability of gum chewing to reinforce other behaviors in this child?

A) drive reduction theory
B) the response deprivation hypothesis
C) the Premack principle
D) the differential probability theory

Question 27

Which of the following theories suggests it is possible for a low probability response to reinforce a high probability response?

A) the Premack principle
B) the differential probability theory
C) drive reduction theory
D) the response deprivation hypothesis

Question 28

The problem with assuming that R-O relationships act alone to produce instrumental behavior is that

A) it is difficult to demonstrate R-O relationships in the laboratory.
B) R-O relationships are theoretical constructs.
C) the R-O relationship does not explain what causes the response in the first place.
D) R-O relationships ignore rg-sg mechanisms.

Question 29

According to which of the following theories is the instrumental conditioning procedure itself responsible for the creation of a reinforcer?

A) the Premack principle
B) drive reduction theory
C) the response deprivation hypothesis
D) the differential probability theory

Question 30

In order to determine if one response will reinforce another,what would Premack suggest you need to know?

A) the primary drive level of the subject
B) the incentive drive level of the subject
C) the species typical response rate
D) the probabilities of each response

Question 31

Which technique is similar to that employed to provide evidence of R-O associations?

A) US devaluation
B) blocking
C) overshadowing
D) response prevention

Question 32

The distribution of responses that is most comfortable to an organism is referred to as

A) the behavioral bliss point.
B) the Premack principle.
C) the Premack baseline.
D) the behavioral deprivation point.

Question 33

According to the response deprivation hypothesis,an organism will work to gain access to a reinforcer response if

A) access to that reinforcer response has been restricted.
B) the baseline probability of making that response is greater than that of making the instrumental response.
C) the baseline probability of making that response is less than that of the making the instrumental response.
D) making that response reduces a deprived physiological drive state.

Question 34

The behavioral bliss point is best defined as

A) a time when all physiological drives are at a minimum.
B) a distribution of responses, among available alternatives, that is most comfortable to an organism.
C) a distribution of sensations that generate behaviors indicative of a pleasure response.
D) a behavior that is the most likely to occur.

Question 35

Thirsty rats will drink more than they run in a wheel.When they are not thirsty,the same rats will run more than they drink.The evidence suggesting that running can be reinforced by drinking in thirsty rats,and drinking reinforced by running in non-thirsty rats,supports

A) the differential probability theory.
B) the drive reduction theory.
C) the optimal foraging theory.
D) the incentive motivation theory.

Question 36

Contemporary efforts to explore the associative structure of instrumental conditioning have concentrated on demonstrating _____ relations.

A) S-S
B) R-O
C) S-R
D) S-O

Question 37

Which of the following is the focus of behavioral regulation theories?

A) the relative probabilities of instrumental responses
B) the relative probabilities of reinforcing responses
C) the drive states of an organism
D) the extent to which an instrumental contingency disrupts behavioral stability

Question 38

A major contribution of the Premack principle is that

A) it focused attention on the homeostatic mechanisms of behavior.
B) it encouraged thinking about reinforcers as responses.
C) it began the discussion of neural mechanisms of reinforcement.
D) it challenged drive reduction theory by focusing attention on sensory reinforcement.

Question 39

Which of the following is not considered a contribution of the Premack principle?

A) It encouraged thinking about reinforcers as responses.
B) It pointed out that any activity could be used as a reinforcer.
C) It pointed out sensory reinforcement as an alternative to drive reduction.
D) It paved the way for applications of reinforcement procedures to many differing human problems.

Question 40

Which of the following CS pairings during Phase 2 is most likely to result in a sign tracking response that will complicate the interpretation of a transfer of control experiment?

A) A tone CS is paired with an annoying noise.
B) A key light CS is paired with footshock.
C) An odor CS is paired with the termination of an annoying noise.
D) A puff of air CS is paired with termination of food access.

Question 41

According to the minimum deviation model,when an instrumental contingency is imposed that will not allow an animal to achieve its behavioral bliss point,

A) the animal will fulfill the optimal level of responding for biologically driven responses.
B) the animal will fulfill the optimal level of responding only for the instrumental response.
C) the animal will compromise and perform more of the instrumental response and less of the contingent response.
D) the animal will fulfill the optimal level of the contingent response.

Question 42

Which of the following theories views an instrumental contingency as a disruption of the most comfortable distribution of responses?

A) drive reduction theory
B) the bliss point approach
C) the response deprivation hypothesis
D) optimal foraging theory

Question 43

A researcher expresses the behavioral bliss point for two behaviors,drinking and running as a simple ratio of running/drinking.The initial bliss point is given the value of X.After several weeks,in which the animal in question is allowed to remain in the environment,the researcher should expect that the bliss point will be

A) greater than X.
B) the same as X.
C) less than X.
D) unpredictable given the data.

Question 44

Which of the following is true of the bliss point?

A) The bliss point is a molecular feature of behavior.
B) The distribution of responses leading to the bliss point has been determined to be unimportant.
C) A given response is the same in constrained and nonconstrained situations.
D) The bliss point is a molar feature of behavior

Question 45

If a situation remains unchanged by the experimenter,the behavioral bliss point is assumed to

A) vary with the physiological drive state of the animal.
B) vary with shifting motivational states of the organism.
C) be stable across time for an organism.
D) vary with differing behaviors of the animal.

Question 46

Which of the following is not considered a determinant of the elasticity of demand?

A) availability of substitutes
B) price range
C) income level
D) reinforcer quantity

Question 47

The elasticity of demand for candy is likely to be _____ the elasticity of demand for gasoline.

A) the same as
B) less than
C) greater than
D) This cannot be determined.

Question 48

In economic concepts of response allocation,"prices" are equivalent to

A) instrumental schedules.
B) instrumental behaviors.
C) instrumental rewards.
D) instrumental spending.

Question 49

An instrumental contingency results in increased performance of a target instrumental response.According to the bliss point approach,this increase is due to

A) behavioral regulatory mechanisms that function to minimize deviations from the optimal distribution of responses.
B) an animal's attempts to earn as many reinforcers as possible, given the time constraints.
C) changes in the physiological drive state of the organism during response deprivation.
D) activation of dedicated brain pathways sensitive to response contingencies.

Question 50

A child would normally eat candy for 20 minutes of each hour and play pinball for 40 minutes.According to the minimum deviation model,if the child is required on average to play pinball for 50 minutes in order to eat candy for 20 minutes,the child will most likely distribute its behavior to

A) play pinball for 50 minutes to gain access to 20 minutes of candy.
B) play pinball for only 40 minutes for less than 20 minutes of candy.
C) play pinball for between 40 and 50 minutes for less than 20 minutes of candy.
D) play pinball for more than 50 minutes to get as much candy as possible.

Question 51

Which of the following will not have much of an effect on the demand a group of rats has for food pellet reinforcers?

A) the amount of time the rats have to make responses
B) the number of responses required to earn a reinforcer
C) the availability of food substitutes
D) the availability of time on a running wheel

Question 52

The bliss point can be identified by

A) the relative frequency of behavior under instrumental constraint.
B) the relative sensory input under instrumental constraint.
C) the relative sensory input in an unconstrained situation.
D) the relative frequency of behavior in an unconstrained situation.

Question 53

If you wanted to study "spending" in an instrumental procedure,you would be interested in

A) the instrumental contingency.
B) the instrumental behavior.
C) the deprivation period.
D) the reinforcer quality.

Question 54

For which of the following items will a 10% price increase have the greatest impact on the demand for the object?

A) a 50 cent candy bar
B) a 10 cent candy bar
C) a 1 dollar box of candy
D) a 5 dollar box of candy

Question 55

In some cases,imposing an instrumental contingency makes it impossible for an organism to return to the free-baseline behavioral bliss point.In these circumstances,

A) the animal relies on physiological mechanisms of motivation.
B) the animal relies on sensory reinforcement.
C) the animal performs whichever response was last reinforced.
D) the animal is motivated to defend against challenges to its most comfortable distribution of responses.

Question 56

If you wanted to increase the "price" in an instrumental procedure,you could

A) increase the size of the reinforcer.
B) increase the sensory reinforcement of the reward.
C) increase the number of lever presses required.
D) increase the deprivation time.

Question 57

A rat spends equal amounts of time running and drinking.In a graph of this behavior,time spent running is represented on the x axis.The y axis represents time spent drinking.When running is restricted by an instrumental constraint,the slope of the line representing the new instrumental contingency

A) is steeper than the slope of the line through the bliss point.
B) is less steep than the slope of the line through the bliss point.
C) is the same as the slope of the line through the bliss point.
D) cannot be determined with the above information.

Question 58

According to the bliss point approach,reinforcement effects occur because

A) behavioral regulatory mechanisms function to minimize deviations from the optimal distribution of responses.
B) the drive state changes due to the instrumental contingency.
C) an animal attempts to earn as many reinforcers as possible, given the time constraints.
D) the animal seeks to maximize the sensory reinforcement of the contingent behavior.

Question 59

When response allocation cannot return an organism to its bliss point,the response allocation between instrumental and contingent behaviors becomes a matter of compromise.Which theory suggests that the new distribution of behaviors is the least different from bliss point?

A) drive reduction theory
B) minimum deviation model of behavioral regulation
C) the Premack principle
D) optimal foraging theory

Question 60

According to the behavioral bliss point approach,imposing an instrumental contingency

A) establishes a new physiological drive state.
B) activates dedicated brain regions sensitive to reinforcement.
C) disrupts the most comfortable distribution of responses.
D) causes increased attention to sensory reinforcement.

Question 61

What investigative techniques are used to provide evidence of R-O associations? Why is it not possible to explain instrumental behavior by assuming only R-O association learning?

Question 62

You normally like to read about 20 hours a week.Your English professor has assigned 20 hours of reading per week and you find that you now want to read less.This shift is a challenge to

A) response deprivation theory.
B) the bliss point approach.
C) optimal foraging theory.
D) drive reduction theory.

Question 63

Describe similarities and differences between the Premack principle and subsequent behavioral regulation theory.

Question 64

Intuition suggests that subjects make responses in order to receive a particular outcome.What evidence is there of R-O associations in animals?

Question 65

One contribution of the bliss point approach was that it moved us toward considering instrumental conditioning as

A) stamping in instrumental behavior.
B) creating a new allocation of responses.
C) strengthening an instrumental response.
D) a biological mechanism.

Question 66

Susan likes to jog every morning for about an hour to start her day.Her new job allows her time to jog,but only in the afternoons.She is quite unhappy with this situation.Susan's discontent provides a challenge to which theory?

A) response deprivation theory
B) the Premack principle
C) the bliss point approach
D) drive reduction theory

Question 67

Provide evidence that supports the hypothesis that animals can develop specific reward expectancies during conditioning procedures.

Question 68

What are the shortcomings of behavioral-regulation theory?

Question 69

What is the central premise of the modern two-process theory? Describe three specific predictions of the theory.

Question 70

Describe what an S-O association is and what research tactic provides the best evidence for it.

Question 71

Briefly describe an experiment that would test the Premack differential probability principle.

Question 72

How do studies of the associative structure of instrumental conditioning help in understanding the nature of drug addiction?

Question 73

Which of the following is not a contribution of the bliss point approach?

A) It moved us away from thinking about reinforcers as a special class of stimuli.
B) Reinforcer responses are not considered to be more likely than instrumental responses.
C) Organisms are assumed to respond maximally as determined by physiology, ecological niche, and natural response tendencies.
D) Instrumental conditioning began to be viewed as a strengthening of the instrumental response.

Question 74

What is the behavioral bliss point? How does an experimenter determine the bliss point? How does the bliss point approach account for reinforcer effects?

Question 75

Compare the Premack principle to the response deprivation hypothesis.What evidence supports the response deprivation hypothesis?

Question 76

Describe implications of modern concepts of reinforcement for behavior therapy.

Question 77

Experimental evidence suggests that how the behavioral bliss point is achieved is important.For example,rats may first run,then drink.This is a challenge to the bliss point approach because

A) the bliss point approach is molar.
B) the bliss point approach is molecular.
C) the bliss point is based on behavioral drives.
D) the bliss point is based on sensory reinforcement.

Question 78

Suppose you want to reduce the occurrence of some undesired social behavior (like illegal drug use).Describe two things you would do that,according to economic concepts of response allocation,would decrease the behavior.

Question 79

What are the primary contributions of economic concepts to the understanding of the motivational bases of instrumental behavior?